Realizations
by Emily728
Summary: Another take on how Cops and Robbers could have gone. It's pretty much just an expansion at first, but will soon progress into a budding romance.
1. Chapter 1

Heart pounding, blood coursing through her, refusing to think of the possibility that her fear had just come true, Kate Beckett, gun and flashlight in hand, swiftly walked through the now exploded bank. She was just about to break. The thought that Richard Castle might be dead…she couldn't take it. What would she tell his daughter? Alexis trusted her to save him. How could she tell her that she wasn't able to rescue him? How could she live with the fact that she was never able to tell him how she felt? He had risked everything by telling her that he loved her hen she was shot, and then she pretended not to remember. He deserved to know that she loved him too. But now, he might never know. She might never see him again,

"Castle!" Kate continued to walk, eyes darting everywhere, searching for any survivors.

"Castle" She swore to God, if he didn't answer soon, she didn't know what she would do.

"CASTLE!" She could hear her voice getting rough and shaky, emotions taking over.

"Beckett?" Kate's heart raced. He was alive. He was alive.

She followed his voice and she froze when she finally laid eyes on him, huddled in the back room along with the other twenty hostages. However, she only had eyes for him.

"They're here!" She yelled to the rest of the team storming the bank.

She opened the gate and kneeled in front of Castle. She smiled at him like she never had before. She had given him playful, feigned annoyed smiles, grateful smiles, flirty smiles. This one, however, was a genuine, overjoyed smile. Castle could see something else in it too. Something that made his heart freeze. He couldn't place it. He just continued to smile at her while she cut through the ties on his hands. She looked back up at him, that big smile coming back while she grabbed his lapel.

"How are you?" Kate asked, sincere concern and care etched on her face. Castle was still frozen, not knowing what to say. Kate had never looked at him this way before. Their eyes were locked, neither of them knowing what to say. Castle started to move in.

"Uh-Hem" Martha, Castle's mother, cleared her throat next to him. "He's not the only one here, you know." She gestured to her still tied hands, looking at Kate.

Kate reluctantly looked away from Castle. "I'm so…" She looked back at Castle for a split second to catch the look on his face as he rested his head up against the wall in defeat. She smirked a bit, knowing exactly what he was thinking.

"I'm so sorry Martha." Kate turned back to the woman, "Here you go," and cut the ties on her hands.

As they walked out of the room, Kate asked the head officer of the SWAT team, "Sir, what happened to the robbers?"

"They blew themselves up." He answered.

"What?"

"Seems the C4 was a part of their escape plan. The bomb blasted a hole through the floor of the vault leading to the subway station below. Smart plan if they hadn't screwed it up. They must have triggered the C4 too early and didn't have enough time to escape."

"That's not possible."

"I've got an assortment of body parts that tells me otherwise.

"These guys were professional. There's no way they would have set off that bomb prematurely." Castle thought out loud.

"Something else is going on here." Kate answered.

That would have to wait a few more minutes, however, when the realization that there people outside still thinking that everyone inside the bank was dead. Including Alexis. As the hostages got escorted out of the building, Alexis eyes searched frantically for her father and grandmother. She saw Kate first, and saw no signs of panic or fear, meaning that her family was alive.

Castle saw his daughter in the exact second that Alexis finally found him. "Dad!" Alexis sprinted toward her father and embraced him. He smiled into her shoulder. Martha soon joined in on the hug, relief etched on all of their faces. Alexis caught Kate's eyes again and wordlessly expressed her gratitude to the detective. Kate smiled and nodded. Then, she walked over to the rest of her team, Ryan and Esposito, knowing there was still a murder to solve.

They soon discovered that one of the hostages was actually the one behind the whole heist. He had faked a seizure and was sent to the hospital, but had checked himself out thereafter. The whole thing was to get to a safe deposit box that was used as a form of communication between his not-so-dead wife and son with his mother-in-law. He killed his mother-in-law for the key so he could see where his wife and son have been hiding for a year. Turns out they faked their deaths to escape his abuse.

"You know what he's going to do when he finds them." Kate told her team.

"He's going to kill his wife and kidnap his son." Castle concluded.

"We have to figure out where they are hiding." Kate replied.

They found the information they needed from a priest who was helping them. Turns out, the killer was headed to Ithaca, which was about four hours away, and odds were, he was already there by now. Kate immediately got the Ithaca police on the phone and told them everything that was going on. They all prayed that they would get there in time to stop him. The team waited silently for the answer. Finally Kate said into the receiver, "What. Okay. Thanks." She hung up the phone.

"They are all okay." The team all exhaled in relief. Ryan and Esposito soon left to go pick up the killer.

Kate sat back in her chair and rested the back of her head on her intertwined hands.

"Even as a hostage, I help you solve murders. Beckett, I think you have the perfect partner." Castle said playfully.

Kate heckled, "Yea except he doesn't like doing paperwork."

"Touché."

"So, The Old Haunt? I'll buy you a drink." Kate offered.

"No. I'll do you one better." Castle stood up and held his hand out to Kate. "You can come to dinner with my family and I. Mother's cooking." Castle smiled.

Kate smirked at him. "I'd love to." She grabbed her coat and took his hand. Her eyes never left his as she laced their fingers together. He smiled at her as they walked to the elevator still hand in hand.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own the show, Castle, or any of its characters.

Author's Note: Here is chapter two, enjoy!

Not a second after Kate walks through the door, she is enveloped into a giddy hug by Martha. Kate laughs and looks at Castle as Martha leads them both to the dinner table.

"Wow, Martha. You really outdid yourself." Kate looked impressed.

"Well a brush of death really has an effect on someone. So, tonight we feast."

Castle looked around, "Where's Alexis?"

Martha nodded towards the other room, "She's…"

Castle nodded and slipped out. Martha gestured to the wine glass in her hand. "Would you…?"

Kate smiled, "Please." She grabbed another wine glass and followed Martha to the kitchen.

"So, what was that look about today?" Martha grabbed Kate's wine glass and began to fill both of them.

Kate knew instantly to what she was referring but chose to ignore it. "What do you mean?"

"Kate, what do I look like, a fool? When you stormed in there, you only had eyes for Richard."

"Well I…"

"Kate, don't try to excuse it. I saw it," Martha playfully elbowed her. "Judging from that look, it seems you really care for him. Maybe even a little more than care…" Martha raised her eyebrow. "If you wait too long to tell him, he might not be there to tell." Ever the drama queen, she swooped up both of her glass and glided back into the dining room, leaving no time for Kate to respond.

Kate grabbed another wine glass and began to fill it. She then grabbed both of them and returned to the dining room just in time to see Castle coming out of his office with his arm around Alexis. She smiled and handed him a glass.

"Oh, thank you. And I never got a chance to properly thank you for saving my life."

"Oh, there's no need Castle. We're partners. It's what we do."

Castle lifted his glass to toast with Kate, "Yes, some of us more than others of course."

Kate smiled, but stopped half way into the toast, "Wait, what is that supposed to mean?"

"Only that this is the eighth time you've saved my life and I've saved your life nine times."

Kate shifted on her feet. "Ok, first of all, I can't even believe you're taking score. And second, there is no way you've saved my life more than I've saved yours. Nine? Please." She began to walk to the dinner table.

Castle followed, "Well, let's review shall we? The first time I distracted that mad gunman with a champagne bottle, and yes that was a save, even you admitted it. The second time," he continued as they both sat down, "a serial killer put a bomb in your kitchen while you were taking a shower. I had to brave the hellish flames to pull you out of your bathtub. Won't be forgetting that any time soon. And the third time-"

"Oh Richard alright we get it. You have a brilliant memory. Now finish this conversation after we eat. Some of us do not feel like hearing about almost dying after the day we've had." Martha interrupted him.

Kate smirked at him. "Yes, Castle. How very insensitive of you."

Castle gave her a tart smile. Kate bit down a laugh.

"What would you like to talk about, Mother?" Castle asked.

"Oh well I have this new play coming up soon."

"Oh, are you playing one of the lead roles?" Kate asked curiously as she sipped her wine.

"Well, not exactly." Martha replied.

"Grams, I thought you said you were a shoo-in for it." Alexis offered.

"Yes well, apparently not. The director called me this morning to tell me that I would be playing the glamorous role of the nanny."

"Wow. I don't know, Mother. This one might be a stretch for you. After all, you don't even wash your own clothes, let alone someone else's…let alone a child's." Castle teased.

"Yes well that is why it's called acting my dear. Anyway, today wasn't a total waste. A certain bank manager gave me his card. Told me to call him whenever I had the chance."

"Leave it to her to pick up a date in the middle of a bank robbery." Castle smiled at his daughter, who nodded and rolled her eyes.

"Hey now, there is nothing wrong with seeing potential and going after it." Martha defended.

Castle and Alexis both playfully rolled their eyes.

Kate sat in silence, watching the interaction between the family. She couldn't help but notice how she fit right in. They didn't act differently because she was around. No one felt the need to compromise their usual banter because they had a guest. It was like she was already a part of this family. She smiled to herself.

Castle caught her smiling and lifted his eyebrows in question. She smiled, wordlessly telling him that he would find out later.

Author's Note: I would like this to turn into a multiple chapter story. If you would like to see that happen, please let me know. =)


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Once again, I do not own the show, Castle, or any of its characters.

Author's Note: So, I thought this would just be a quirky little chapter to get a feel for where each character is right now. I want the romance to be real, so it will be a progression. Hope you like it! Please review if you want. =)

After it seemed like everyone was finished eating, Martha stood up to begin clearing the table. Kate stood and began to gather the plates.

"Nonsense dear," Martha took the plates from her, "in our home, a guest never is imposed upon with doing chores."

"Martha, it's really no problem-" Kate started.

Castle grabbed her arm mid-sentence. "Trust me, you aren't going to win this one," he whispered.

Kate nodded in defeat, sat back down, a sipped a bit more on her wine.

"So Detective Beckett, any juicy stories from the precinct lately that you would like to share?" Alexis spoke up.

"Well, I'm sure your dad told you all about the haunted house case right?" Kate asked already thinking of another story to tell the young Castle.

"Haunted house? What are you talking about?" Alexis asked confused.

Kate gaped back at Castle, shocked. "You didn't tell her? I was sure that you weren't able to resist after all of the," she air-quoted, "ghost scares."

"Wait, ghosts? Involved in a murder? Dad, why didn't you tell me?" Alexis accused.

Castle lifted up his hands in innocence. "Well there just never seemed to be a right time. When I got home after the case, you were torn up over Ashley and I didn't want to insult the seriousness of the situation by bringing up ghost stories. And then we got caught up in that zombie movie that I just completely forgot about it."

Kate whirled around back to Alexis. "Well, this seems like the right time to tell it, don't you think?"

Alexis smiled and nodded, "Definitely."

"Well before we get into that, why don't we move this over to the living area?" Castle suggested. "Mother, do you want in on this?" He asked as they moved from the dinner table.

"Oh no dear, I think I have kept that poor man waiting long enough." Martha replied.

"Who, the bank manager? Mother, it's been no longer than twelve hours."

"Well, I don't want to keep him waiting too long." With that, Martha glided up the stairs waving good night to the clan.

Castle turned to see Kate and Alexis already getting settled on the couch. Castle sat next to Alexis with Kate on the other side of her. The girls were facing each other while Castle flipped on the television deciding to try to watch a show without the volume while hiding the fact that he was very interested in how Kate was going to tell this story.

"So, I am assuming you have probably watched Ghost Wranglers with your dad a time or two…" Kate began.

Alexis nodded, signaling her to continue.

"Well, the star of the show, Jack Sinclair, was the victim in that case."

"Jack is dead? How did it happen? What's going to happen to the show now?" Alexis spouted off.

Kate shrugged, "I'm not sure. Anyway, you father was convinced that a demon murdered him. I told him there was a perfectly reasonable explanation for all of the weird things that were happening. And who was right?" She looked at Rick, "Me."

Castle looked at her out of the corner of his eye and smirked.

"Weird things? What weird things?" Alexis questioned.

Kate turned back to Alexis and started, "Well first off…" She proceeded to tell Alexis all about the case, including the ghost scares, the secret room, and the perfectly human killer, being very animated in the way she used her arms and hands. Alexis was completely consumed with the story as soon as Kate started, occasionally asking questions for more details.

Castle listened intently while seemingly watching whatever was on the television screen. He sometimes would smirk at the way Kate would make fun of him with his daughter, talking about all of his ghost and demon theories.

"See, so there was a perfectly reasonable explanation for the murder. You're dad just didn't want to give up the hope that there was something supernatural going on in that mansion."

Alexis turned around and smiled at her father, who then shrugged and put his arm around her. "No wonder why you didn't tell me this story. You knew I would make fun of all your paranormal insights." She teased.

Castle smirked and said, "Who's up for a movie?" choosing to change the subject.

Kate smiled and rolled her eyes, but sank further down in the couch, getting comfortable.

"Actually, it's really late. I have school tomorrow, so I should probably pass." Alexis stated, getting up.

Oh great, Kate thought; leave me here alone with Castle to deal with whatever these feelings are? I don't think so.

"Actually, she's right. I didn't realize how late it was. I should probably get going as well." Kate said, checking her watch.

"Oh…alright well some other time I guess." Castle sighed, getting up to kiss his daughter's head. "Goodnight sweetie."

"Night Dad." Alexis turned to give Kate a hug. Kate wasn't exactly used to displays of affection but wrapped her arms around the girl anyway. "Thank you," Alexis whispered in her ear.

Kate pulled back, smiled down into those crystal blue eyes, and nodded.

Alexis then turned and headed up the stairs to her room.

Kate looked at Castle, who was staring, mesmerized, at her. She looked down uncomfortably. "Well, like I said. I should go." She grabbed her purse and jacket and headed for the door. Castle followed her. Just as she reached out to grab the doorknob Castle took her hand. Surprised, she reeled around and came face to face with him. He was much closer than she expected. Their closeness brought her back to earlier today when she found him and he had almost stolen a kiss. She also remembered how she felt when he started to lean in, before they were interrupted. She wanted him to kiss her. Her heart had fluttered with just the thought that he might. So why, all of a sudden, was she cautious about it?

Not letting go of her hand he said, "I'm really glad you came tonight. I think Martha and Alexis enjoyed having you," a pause, "I know I certainly did." He gave her that irresistible smile of his.

"It was fun… I …enjoyed it too." Kate stammered for words. She was lost in his eyes. They were trained on hers, filled with care and longing.

Castle leaned a bit closer; "Maybe we could do it again sometime."

"Maybe." Kate said and darted her eyes down to his lips.

Castle saw this and took it as a sign. She wanted him to kiss her. His eyes glanced down to her lips as well. They looked soft, luscious, and were glistening with the slight pink gloss she had put on earlier. He glanced back up to see her eyes glazed over with yearning. Slowly, he started to lean in again, just like he had earlier that day. He could feel Kate's heartbeat becoming heavy. He imagined his own was doing the same. He rested his hand on her cheek and she leaned into it, closing her eyes. His other settled on her waist. Her hands clenched his jacket and pulled him closer until they were nose to nose. They could feel each other's breath coming out in hot wisps. Castle glanced once more into her eyes, making sure there was no hesitation in them. Seeing none, he started to move his lips through the gap to meet hers.

"Oh and by the way Dad…" Alexis bounded down the stairs just before their lips met. Seeing them practically jump out of each other's arms, from shame or embarrassment she wasn't sure, she finished slowly, "tomorrow after school I'm going over to Chloe's house so I'm not sure what time I'll be home."

Red faced, Castle turned to his daughter, "Alright sweetie. That sounds fine."

With one more skeptical look at the couple, Alexis ascended the stairs once again.

Looking back at Kate, Castle smiled ashamedly. Kate nodded and inched towards the door. Clearing her throat she said, "I should really go now." After an awkward moment where neither of them quite knew how to proceed, Kate turned around and opened the door. She waved back at Castle, who was still speechless, and said, "See you tomorrow."

Castle waved back and nodded still with that dumbfounded look on his face. What just happened? He had no idea what was going to happen with them now. Defeated, he disappeared into his bedroom.

On the elevator Kate was still reeling from the last five minutes as well. She could not believe that Alexis had almost caught them kissing, or maybe something worse if she had come down a few minutes later. The thought made her shudder. What was she thinking? She couldn't let herself slip like that again, especially with people around. She had enough to deal with in trying to sort out her own feelings about their relationship; she didn't need the input of anyone else. No, she would have to deal with this on her own, including the awkwardness that was sure to follow tomorrow. She wondered what Castle was thinking right now. Was he regretting it just as much as she was? She scoffed, yea right. He was probably angry with his daughter for ruining his moment. In fact, he would probably try again the next chance he got.

Walking to her car, she made a decision to make sure there isn't a chance again until she sorted out her feelings. She didn't want to lead him on, and of he kissed her before she understood this thing that was going on between them, she knew she would regret it later and end up hurting him.

Getting in the car and revving up the engine, she realized that she was going to have to think long and hard about her decision before she let him in on it. Hopefully, she thought, he wouldn't make this harder than it already was on her.

Heading to her apartment she thought, whom was she kidding; of course he was going to make this hard on her. Isn't that what he'd been doing since they first met? Gearing up for the challenge, Kate knew that deflecting his passes was going to be harder than she thought.


End file.
